OCZ 2GB PC2-7200 SLI-Ready Edition

We took a look at a PC2-7200 kit from OCZ last year and it proved to be one of the best kits we’ve ever laid our mitts on. Today we are taking a look at another PC2-7200 kit, approved and branded by NVIDIA. Are we going to be impressed once again?

Ram Comparisons, Final Thoughts

Here, we compare our overclocks of the memory being reviewed alongside other recently evaluated sticks. These graphs include benchmarks with each kit of ram at DDR2-1000 4-4-4-12-13 2.1v along with each kits own top overclock. While the DDR2-1000 results should not vary much, the top end overclocks will, given that each kit will top out differently.

For reference, here are the top overclocks for each kit of ram included:

Corsair Dominator PC2-9136 – 635MHz 5-5-5-18-16 2.5v (2.85GHz CPU)

OCZ Flex XLC PC2-9200 – 625MHz 5-5-5-18-16 2.5v (2.81GHz CPU)

Kingston HyperX PC2-9200 – 621.5MHz 5-5-5-18-13 2.5v (2.79GHz CPU)

OCZ Ti Alpha VX2 PC2-8000 – 620MHz 5-5-5-18-13 2.5v (2.79GHz CPU)

OCZ DFI Special PC2-9000 – 615MHz 5-5-5-18-13 2.5v (2.76GHz CPU)

OCZ SLI-Ready PC2-7200 – 600MHz 5-5-5-18-13 2.4v (2.70GHz CPU)

The result is never much of a surprise here, because it’s all based on who has the best overclock. Whoever has the best ram overclock will also have the best CPU overclock. So, since the 7200 kit scored the lowest overclock of the bunch, that conclusion is reflected in the graph.

The same applies for our Super Pi tests. Surprisingly enough though, at 500MHz, OCZs 7200 kit scored the best time.

Given the fact that the OCZ 7200 has the lowest stock speed of all the other kits, it performed quite well overall.

Final Thoughts

Has the 7200 impressed us? Without question it has. The kit has a stock speed of 450MHz, but was 100% stable at 600MHz… a 33% overclock. That is an impressive feat. But here’s where things get difficult. I can’t really recommend this kit in particular, because it retails for a price higher than I’d like to see. One e-tailer sells for $390 and another for $292.

At $292, I feel this kit is worth it, thanks to it’s potential. However, a quick search around the same retailers revealed that that PC2-8500 version of this kit actually costs less. Sometimes supply and demand can be funny, and this is a great example. In fact, one e-tailer is selling the PC2-8500 kit for $240 and at another, the kit will cost you $219 after a mail in rebate. Chances are good that the same chips are used in both the kit looked at today, and that one. With the PC2-8500 kit in hand, you should be able to achieve the same overclock as seen here, or even higher given they are higher binned chips.

As it stands, I am awarding the SLI-Ready PC2-7200 kit an 8 out of 10 in addition to our Editors Choice. Even at $292, I feel 600MHz stable is worth the price. However, as great as this kit is, it would only make sense to pick up the PC2-8500 version for the fact it costs far less.

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